Precious Snowflake
by tardisaur
Summary: The story begins a few days before Phil's birthday when Dan finds a new, very amusing, nickname for his best friend Phil. He also finds that his affections towards Phil are taking on a different direction. Phil struggles with feelings of insecurity but finds one thing that makes him feel better. New chapters at least weekly! Phan, fluff and later "adult references". Rated T for now
1. Chapter 1

_And what on earth are we supposed to do with two chairs, none of which we actually want to keep and one of which we can't even get out of the apartment because it's too freaking big?! _

This Phil thought to himself as he stood in the lounge of his and his best friend Dan's shared flat. They had talked about getting a chair for the room for quite some time when they finally decided on and ordered a bright red, modern looking piece. However, when they got it home and they tried it out it turned out to be really uncomfortable. Not suitable for slouching in all day playing video games. Not acceptable at all. Plus Phil thought it looked like satan.

Then they got the _chair of death _which looked ok in the catalogue but was humongous in real life, like a chair for freaking giants. Sure, he and Dan were both fairly tall guys but come on this was just ridiculous. Why make it so big? Was it a mini sofa? Was it a chair for two? Maybe for lovers, Phil thought. Or maybe.. Yeah now he could see it!

He sat down in it, leaned back and spread his legs, like how he imagined a king would when sitting on their royal throne. Yeah! It _was_ a freaking throne! Only with more cushioning...

_Obey me peasants! _He thought, smiling to himself, clutching an imaginary scepter. He then, somewhat unsteadily, stood up in the chairand pointed down at his invisible subjects.

"Kneel before your king!" He said out loud in his best impression of a deep kingly voice.

It was at that moment that Phil noticed his flatmate standing in the doorway, looking mighty amused, and wearing that sassy smug expression of his. That expression that always made Phil feel slightly inferior. Phil froze in position and felt his face become warm. "Oh, erhm Dan –" He slipped on the leathery cushion he was standing on and bounce-glided down onto the floor_, _hitting it bum first with a loud _thump._

"Whoa, careful there snowflake!" said Dan, amused but with a tiny hint of worry in his voice. Phil looked up from under his tousled fringe, flustered, and found that Dan was somehow standing right next to him. Had he come running when he saw Phil falling? Oh no, this was embarrasing. His thoughts were interrupted by a sudden realization.

"_What did you just call me_?" He asked Dan with a flat and unintentionally high pitched voice. He tried hard to ignore his current vulnerable position and looked up at Dan's face, into his dark brown eyes.

"What?" Dan faked innocence and confusion, touching the back of his head and shrugging, but Phil just stared him in the eyes.

"You called me snowflake, Dan." He said as calmly as he could, and slowly as if he was speaking to someone of below average intelligence.

Dan was trying hard not to laugh now, Phil could see it. He was confused; was Dan mocking him? Was this some sort of joke he had missed? Snowflake wasn't another word for gay or something, was it? That would be bad… He swallowed and decided that it couldn't be too bad because Dan was never mean to him, well maybe for fun but not in an actual hurtful way.

"Come on Dan, what have I missed? Tell me!" He tried to sound curious rather than worried.

Dan was no longer holding back his amusement. Actually, by now he was literally rolling on the floor gasping with laughter. Phil did however manage to pick up the words "_might want", "check" _and "_wikipedia page_" between his laughing fits.

That was enough information for Phil who had already left his gasping friend on the floor, gotten onto the sofa, and opened his laptop. Within seconds he had typed in his own full name in the google search bar and clicked the top result which brought him to his meager-but-official wikipedia article. His eyes swiftly scanned the text but he could find nothing about snowflakes.

Dan stopped laughing and sat up, watching his friend to catch his reaction. He did not want to miss this. He saw Phil's blue, somewhat panicky eyes scan the laptop screen. Any second now…

Phil's eyes widened when he saw it. In the info box someone had added an _other names_ section with the names _phil _and-

"Precious snowflake? Precious- Whaat?!"

Dan started to giggle again. This was just too much fun. Whoever thought of putting that there was a genious. He had found out about this new nickname when he was browsing the _amazingphil _tag on tumblr the day before. He sometimes did that, just to stay updated on how popular his best friend and fellow youtuber was in comparison to himself and also, even though he would never admit it to anyone, to make sure there was no Phil hate going around. If he ever saw something that could hurt Phil he always tried to keep it him from finding it out.

This precious snowflake business however, he judged as innocent and in addition, completely and utterly hilarious. Of course, it was funny because it was true. Phil was always so innocent and so.. well, precious. Compared to himself, anyway...

Dan's thoughts were interrupted when something hit him in the head. It was a large totoro plushie, thrown by a alarmingly furious-looking Phil.


	2. Chapter 2

Author's note:

So I have noticed there are a few people who liked the "pilot" chapter so I wrote another one, Yay!

"Ouch!"

Dan reached for the large japanese plushie that just hit him in the head and was just about to fling it back where it came from when he realized that Phil was still looking like he wanted to murder someone.

"Ehm, Phil? Why are you looking at me like that?" Dan dropped the totoro and lifted his hands defensivly, like he was being pointed at with a gun. They stared at each other for a few seconds until Dan quickly blurted out "It wasn't me, though" and before he could stop himself he was snorting with laughter again and this time he was running for it instead of dropping to the floor.

Phil saw his laughing friend dissapear around the corner, locking himself in the bathroom by the sound of it. His mouth twitched and he couldn't help but chuckle. He was laughing at Dan. He had looked genuinly frightened for a second there when Phil had stared him down. Phil was actually quite proud of his I-am-not-amused stare.

His eyes went back to the wikipedia article on his laptop screen. _Precious Snowflake._ And Dan said he hadn't come up with that? Phil wasn't sure he believed him, but of course he realized it could well have been one of his or Dan's hundreds and thousands of fangirls. He had gotten the sense that his fans saw him as innocent, cute and harmless. Well compared to Dan anyway… He glared at the insolently large chair. Damn thing, he thought, and his face got warm when he was once again reminded of the degrading incident.

Dan sat on the edge of the bathtub, casually checking twitter on his phone while listening for any sounds outside of the locked door. He sighed and realized Phil wasn't going to play this game. Had he upset him? No, he was probably just planning his revenge. Dan remebered what Phil had been doing when he walked in on him earlier. He was such a child sometimes, playing king on his throne. What the hell. He got up and sneaked out of the bathroom and into his bedroom as quietly as he could, careful not to disturb king snowflake.

He closed the door behind him, lay down on his bed and picked up his phone again. But he just couldn't drop the image of Phil standing on that ridiculous chair like it was some kind of throne. And if Phil was a king, he thought, what did that make Dan then? A peasant? A prince? Or maybe a royal knight, yeah he liked that better. He visualized himself in full armour, riding a snowy white horse in a prestigious tourney. Phil was cheering on the jousting knights from his chair-throne in the audience. In Game of Thrones they had tournaments to celebrate the king's birthday, Dan thought. Oh shit, Phil's birthday!

He glanced at the llama themed calendar on the wall. Three days! Phil's 26th birthday was in three days time! He vaguely remembered Phil talking about going to his parents' in the north when he did his liveshow. Well shit he was probably leaving on Monday, because the radio show is tomorrow and Dan was sure he would remember if Phil had told him he'd have to do the show solo.

He needed to get a present, like now, but when he checked the time on his phone he realized it was too late to go shopping today. It was almost midnight so all the shops would be closed by now. He decided he'd do it first thing in the morning instead. Damn, he'd have to get up early then, if he was to get it done before they had to go to the studio to prepare for the radio show. There had to be another way. I guess I could always give him something when he gets back from his parents', Dan thought and shrugged to himself. He then got up from the bed and headed towards the lounge where he had left his embarassed friend.

Phil was distracting himself by watching funny animal videos on his laptop when Dan came walking into the room with a "Hey", turned on the TV and the wiiU and sat down on the other end of the sofa, at a safe distance from Phil, who ignored him and continued to stare at his laptop. After a minute or two Phil glanced at Dan, who was playing Super Mario bros. He looked concentrated but he wasn't doing very well in the game.

Phil didn't notice the distant look in Dan's eyes. Dan was again thinking about what to give Phil for his birthday. He had literally considered everything from simply giving him a friendly pat on the back congratulating him on making it another year, to buying him a freaking trip to Africa to see wild lions. Why did this seem so important all the sudden? He felt Phil's eyes on him and he looked up to meet the blue-eyed look his friend was giving him.

"Want me to help?" Phil asked casually, reaching for the other controller on the coffee table.

Oh the game! "Sure, I'll switch to multiplayer." Dan replied with a smile. Phil's face lit up and all the tension in the room dissolved. Dan felt a sudden surge of affection for his friend and he almost wanted to hug him. They never hugged though, so that would just be weird, right?

Phil joined the game and soon forgot about the chair incident as he became Luigi and jumped around in the colourful 2-D world together with Mario-Dan on their never-ending quest to save the damn Princess.

The two best friends played for hours, laughing at each others fails and shouting profanities at the enemies. Well, it was mostly Phil who failed though, and Dan did all the swearing. It was like it was supposed to be, like it had always been.


	3. Chapter 3

/Long chapter ahead! So yeah, here it is. Something happens that makes both Dan and Phil forget about birthdays for a while. I hope you like it!/

Chapter 3

Dan was feeling distressed. He wanted to find the perfect gift for Phil but he also knew that what he really wanted to give Phil was just a great birthday. But he would have no control of that, as Phil was about to leave in just a day.

Dan and Phil were in a cab on their way home from doing their radio show and they were both still a bit wound up from the excitement. Phil's stomach growled and he whined quietly..

"Want to get some pizza or something?" Dan asked him, and when Phil nodded he told the cabbie to take the route past their favorite pizza place.

"So how did you think the show went?" Dan asked Phil, who was looking a bit distant. He was stressed, Dan could see it. Phil moved his gaze to meet Dan's.

"Okay, I guess. We're starting to get a hang of it I think. The fan wars segment was kind of shaky though!" He looked out the window again and tried to fight the bad feeling in his body, that feeling he always got when he felt he had done something poorly or not just good enough.

"Yeah, but I'm sure the viewers and listeners found it entertaining enough" Dan said and chuckled.

Phil knew that his friend was trying to cheer him up so he smiled at him, but he just couldn't make the gnawing uncomfortable feeling go away. Maybe some food would help.

They had decided on bringing the pizza back to their flat and eat it there in peace, in front of an old rerun of _Buffy_ on TV. They were both leaning in over the table to eat from the same pizza and while Phil's bright blue eyes were fixed on his favourite show on the TV, Dan's eyes flicked between his own slice of pizza and his friend, whose clean-shaven face happened to be only a few inches away from his own. Did he look different? There was something bout Phil tonight that just made him want to hold him and protect him and.. He shook his head to snap himself out of the staring and swallowed hard but realized too late that his mouth had been full of un-chewed pizza on which he was now choking.

Phil jumped when Dan started making weird noises some two inches away from his face and instinctively pushed Dan away from himself to save his face. Then he noticed that something was wrong, seeing that Dan had just rolled down onto the floor and was now just lying there, making choking noises. Oh shit he was really choking on something! Phil dragged Dan back onto the sofa and put his arms around him from behind to perform the Heimlich maneuver on him.

A chunk of pizza went flying from Dan's mouth and landed on the floor and he was finally free to breathe again. He had somehow ended up lying on his back on the sofa, on top of Phil who was also lying on his back, arms still clenching around Dan's abdomen. They were both breathing heavily. Dan was too occupied with getting oxygen that he didn't even bother to move off of Phil but after a few minutes he noticed that Phil hadn't tried to push him away yet. He suddenly felt his face become warm and he became aware of the two long arms that were wrapped around him. He felt so safe. He sighed and relaxed into the body underneath him and felt that Phil too relaxed in response to that.

Somehow they were both okay with this position. Dan closed his eyes and tried not to think about the reasons why they should not be okay with it and concentrated on breathing and on the feeling of Phil's warm body instead.

Phil had fully intended to reposition the panting Dan to beside him on the sofa rather than having him lay on top of him, but something had stopped him and now they were just lying there in silence, breathing in unison. He felt safe and warm, because the bad feeling had gone away when he had embraced Dan, and that was the reason why he couldn't make himself move now. That was the reason why he was now breathing in the scent of the younger boy's hair and feeling more and more relaxed under the weight of his slim body. Dan didn't feel tense at all, which Phil interpreted as a sign that he was okay with lying like this for a while. In fact Dan felt so relaxed that Phil suspected he was falling asleep there and then. His suspicions were confirmed when only seconds later, Dan started to snore softly.

Phil carefully rolled over so that they were now in some awkward spooning position. Dan did not stir from his sleep, for which Phil was glad. He reached for one of their space pillows and tucked it under his head, and at the same time he managed to get hold of a blanket to pull over them both to protect them from the chill of the night. He took the opportunity to turn the TV off as well and that made the Tetris lamp and the lit fireplace the only remaining light sources in their now silent living room.

Phil could hardly remember the last time he had held someone like this. It was as if his body had missed the closeness of another human body because this just felt so nice. Nicer than could be considered appropriate though, because the person he was embracing this time was his best friend. Last time he cuddled like this must have been with a girlfriend, a long time ago. He was definitely starved of this sort of closeness. But what if it wasbecause it was Dan specifically that this felt so right? He couldn't imagine he would feel this comfortable with some other person right now, boy or girl.

He raised himself up on one elbow and looked down at Dan's still face. He was beautiful, no one could deny that. Dan suddenly shifted his body and groaned slightly in his sleep. This instantly brought Phil back to reality. He could not stay like this, he realized. It would simply be too awkward, and he didn't want Dan to think… Well, to think what exactly? That he had feelings for him? That he was gay? But this wasn't just him. No, Dan was the one falling asleep on top of Phil. This was not him taking advantage of Dan, Phil reminded himself. They were in this together.

In the end Phil decided to stay on the sofa, but he did not keep his arms around Dan. They had fallen asleep from exhaustion after a long day, no more than that. And hopefully Dan would not find a way to turn this against him in the morning.


	4. Chapter 4

/Ok, I feel like I want to get to Phil's birthday soon, so here's the "morning after" chapter! Please review and tell me what you think!/

Chapter 4

Dan woke up feeling completely rested and relaxed. He stretched out his whole body and when his hand touched something, or rather some_one_, lying beside him he remembered where he had fallen asleep. On the sofa, next to Phil who had just probably saved his life.

Dan opened his eyes and the first thing he saw was the plaid shirt covered back of his best friend. They were lying under a blanket and they had been sweating, pressing up against each others warm bodies all night.

Dan looked down and realized to his horror that he had a morning stiffie poking at Phil's thighs through his skinny jeans. What the hell, he did not expect to ever find himself in this position with another bloke, especially not Phil! He slowly pulled back from Phil and managed to crawl off of the sofa without waking the other boy. He repositioned the blanket to cover Phil before he walked away quietlyl heading for the bathroom to have a shower; it was going to be hard to forget this happened when Phil's scent was all over him, and forget about it he had to.

He did not want to be the one going around unable to think about it while Phil was away. He did not want to miss him like that. He pulled his clothes of and stuffed them in the washer before stepping into the shower. He could stand missing the company of his best friend, he thought, but he did not want to miss his body.

Phil opened his eyes when he heard Dan turn on the shower. He had woken before Dan, but had not dared to move. He thought it was a better idea to just wait for Dan to leave first, seeing that he was the one lying closest to the edge while Phil was kind of stuck, pushed against the back of the sofa.

Dan had not screamed when he woke up, neither had he hit him or blamed him for anything. Phil took this as a sign of acceptance of the situation, meaning Dan was still fairy okay with this, but that would probably still mean that he would never mention it ever again. Phil was kind of relieved when he came to that conclusion. He rolled over on his back and threw the blanket off of him. He was hot and a bit sweaty. Probably not just his own sweat, Phil realised.

What would happen when Dan came out of the shower? Dan would probably not want to see him in the eyes for a few hours. Phil had felt his erection and even though it was just a morning stiffie he figured Dan would be embarassed about it. He could understand that. He would try to act normal. After all Dan must have thought he was asleep and therefore not noticed anything, so Phil would need to act as if he woke up alone. For some reason this thought made him feel a little sad.

Dan came out of the bathroom an hour later, his hair straightened and his body smelling not of Phil. Because he had thrown all of his clothes in the washer, he was only wearing a towel wrapped around his waist. He peeked towards the lounge to see if Phil was still sleeping on the sofa. No, he was gone. Probably in the kitchen making breakfast, Dan thought. He would join him after he had put on some clothes.

He walked into his room and pulled out a random t-shirt from the wardrobe, it was his black one with a skull on it. He pulled on a pair of boxer briefs and on top of that his favourite dark blue skinny jeans. He looked in the mirror and corrected his hair so that it looked exactly like he wanted it and then he took a deep breath and headed off to the kitchen.

The wonderful smell of coffee met him when he walked into the kitchen where Phil was busy mixing different types of cereal into a bowl.

"Experimenting again Phil?"

Phil looked up from his cereal and saw Dan standing there, looking all fresh and perfect.

"Yeah, I have yet to find the perfect combination you know" He replied casually.

Dan grabbed a cup from the cupboard and poured some coffee for himself. "You're weird, Phil, do you know that?"

"Shut up you!" Phil smiled and threw a cereal at Dan but missed his head by an inch. "And yes, I know I'm weird and I like it that way thank you very much. Normal is boring."

"Yeah normal _is _boring" Dan agreed.

They had a pretty normal Monday. Dan had resumed internet position in the sofa and Phil was sitting by the table, trying to draw his life for his new video. He was using a small whiteboard taped in position with the camera positioned over it.

"Are you really going to tell them your whole life story in shitty drawings?" Dan asked sceptically.

"Yes. And it's not supposed to be pretty art, it's just a fun way of sharing your story with the world."

"You were tagged though, right? You'd better not tag me!"

"No I'm tagging Peej, so you can relax Dan"

"Oh! That's a great idea! I mean at least he can draw properly, and maybe he will even do some animations, that would be awesome!"

"Yeah that's what I thought!" Phil smiled at Dan's sudden fangirly excitement over Peej. Phil knew that Dan had always admired him and his skills. He almost wished he too could do something that would impress Dan, but Dan was always better than Phil at everything. He had more subscibers, more followers and he always beat Phil at challenges and even at video games. It was a good thing Phil wasn't a sore loser!

He looked down at his drawing again, which just happened to be the moment in his life story when became friends with Dan. Phil smiled to himself and thought that this had to be the most important frame in the whole video. He reluctantly erased it again, because the story wasn't ending just yet.


	5. Chapter 5

/Hi! I'm sorry for the late chapter. Stuff has happened in real life etc.. I hope you enjoy and please leave a review!/

Chapter 5

Phil woke up in darkness. He had woken up from a nightmare which was quickly fading away from his memory, but still left him feeling uncomfortably cold on the inside. He vaguely remembered that Dan had been in his dream. Then he had not. Dan had disappeared, left Phil all alone and he could not stand the feeling it gave him. He shook his head and rubbed his eyes with shaky hands. He felt tears on his cheeks. Why this all of a sudden? Why now?

He was supposed to leave town tomorrow for god's sake, and have a happy birthday with his family. But how could he be happy when the only thing he wanted right now was to see Dan's face, and be with him and hug him. Yes, Phil wanted a hug, needed one. _Well shit_, he thought, and got out of bed.

Dan lay awake in his bed. It was around 3 in the morning and he was just about to go to sleep after checking twitter one last time when he heard soft cries and sad moans from the other side of the wall. It sounded like Phil was having nightmares again. Dan felt a sting in his heart and he was almost on his way over to Phil's room when the noises stopped.

He lay back down on his bed and closed his eyes, trying to fall asleep. After a minute or two however he heard Phil's door open and soon after he heard a soft knock on his door.

"Dan? Dan, are you awake?" He heard his best friend ask with a coarse voice.

"Yeah come in" He sat up on the bed and switched on the bedside lamp.

Phil looked terrible. His eyes were red from crying and something about his whole body language just screamed _vulnerable_.

"Oh Phil, come here mate", Dan said softly and patted on the bed beside him.

Phil quickly positioned himself where Dan had invited him and before he could help himself, Phil started to sob again. He instantly felt Dan's arms around him and he reached around to hug him back.

They sat there, embracing each other, until Phil had calmed down and started to relax. Phil felt his anxiety fade away more and more the longer he hugged Dan. He sighed deeply and Dan broke the hug but kept his hands on Phil's shoulders. He looked into Phil's swollen, but still beautiful blue eyes.

"Do you want to talk about it?"

Phil shook his head. "It was just a bad dream; I can't even remember what it was about. It's stupid really, I'm sorry."

"No don't apologize, Phil. I have bad dreams too sometimes, and I know how shit they can make you feel." Dan saw that Phil was feeling better but he still didn't want to leave him all alone right now.

He hesitated a little but then he hugged his friend again and said "You can sleep in my bed tonight if you want to."

Phil's heart jumped a bit at those words and he could not stop his head from nodding hard into Dan's shoulder as an answer. They crawled under the blanket together, both wearing their pyjama pants and t-shirts.

Dan made sure he was lying behind Phil so that he could hold him if he started having nightmares again. Actually he wanted to hold him already but he had to control himself. Phil needed support, not his best friend molesting him while he was in a fragile state like this.

It was silent for a while but before any of them fell asleep Phil whispered into the darkness,

"I don't want to leave. I want to stay and spend my birthday with you Dan"

"Good. I never wanted you to leave anyway. I'll make sure you have a great birthday, Phil. Don't you worry."

Phil smiled to himself. "Thanks"

He hugged one of Dan's pillows against his chest, closed his eyes, and fell asleep almost immediately now that he felt completely safe.

When Dan realised that Phil was asleep he also realised that even though he shouldn't, he felt really happy to have Phil in his bed. They had slept in the same bed a few times before, but he never felt the same way about it then as he did now.

Dan was painfully aware of Phil's whole body, his warmth, his slow breaths and his intoxicating scent. Dan was suddenly wide awake and his heart was pounding loudly in his chest.

He leaned forwards and placed the side of his face and his ear against Phil's back, between his shoulder blades. He could hear Phil's heart; it was beating slowly and evenly, unlike Dan's.

He breathed in Phil's scent and sighed. _This is wrong_, he thought, but that could not stop him from pressing up against the other boy's back and slide his arm over him and place his hand in the gap between Phil's t-shirt and pyjama pants. He wanted to kiss his neck, to pull off his shirt, to rub his body against him and-

Phil shifted in his sleep and Dan stopped what he was doing. What _was _he doing? He mentally slapped himself and restrained any further impulses_._ After a while Dan too managed to fall asleep, with his arm still around Phil's waist and his forehead leaning against Phil's neck.


	6. Chapter 6

/So.. Here's the new chapter. I hope you all enjoy it! Please leave a review if you like it. Also, I apologize for any spelling mistakes in beforehand./

Chapter 6

It was the day before Phil's 26th birthday. He had slept through the reminder of the night without any problems with nightmares. He had woken up at around 9am, surprised to find Dan's hand on his stomach and his breath tickling the hair on the back of his neck. He was surprised, but not unhappy, not unhappy at all; he even half-smiled before reluctantly gliding out of bed, out from under the warm blanket and the warm body of his best friend.

Dan did not stir from his sweet sleep. Phil turned his back on the adorable sight of a sleeping Dan and headed to thee door to go and take a much needed shower; he had again gotten too hot and sweaty from sleeping next to Dan. He was sensing a pattern here.

Right before he left the room, he heard a mumbling voice from behind him. "Phil..."

Phil quickly turned around. He was expecting to see Dan awake, but he was still sleeping. Had he just said Phil's name in his sleep? Was he dreaming about Phil? He couldn't help but grin at the thought. He stared curiously at his friend for a few more minutes, but Dan remained silent and fast asleep.

God, he was so beautiful when he was sleeping, Phil thought before he shook his head and brought himself back to reality. He needed to stop staring at Dan, it was creepy, and he really needed to go and have that shower and get started with editing his new video.

Phil was sitting in the lounge by the table, editing his video, when Dan walked into the room.

"Good morning, are you editing your video?" he asked, voice still coarse from sleeping.

"Morning! Yeah I still have a couple of hours work left though… This takes longer than I expected. What are you doing today?"

"Well first I'm going to have coffee and a shower. Then I think I'll finally deal with those chairs. They need to go!" Dan glanced at the red chair in dissaproval.

"Great! Oh would you guess, I found out that the place we got the sofa from has matching armchairs, maybe we should just get one of those?"

"Yeah, sounds like a good idea. No more chair-experimenting now." Dan chuckled and Phil gave him a sweet smile before looking back at his computer screen. He was glad Dan was dealing with the chairs, especially since it was mostly Phil who usually had to take care of matters like these.

After Dan had had his breakfast and shower he spent the day making various phone calls and by dinnertime both of the mismatching chairs were gone and Phil had just finished his video-editing. Dan's stomach growled and he realized he had not eaten anything today except for a biscuit he had had with his morning coffee.

"What do you want for dinner?" He asked Phil, who was stretching in his chair where he had been sat for too long.

"I don't know, I don't feel like cooking anything. Maybe we could just order Chinese?"

Dan realized that if Phil had gone to his parents' like he planned, he would have a home-cooked meal today.

"I'll cook Chinese for you," he offered.

"Aaw that would be so much nicer actually, are you sure?" Phil felt really grateful. And hungry!

"Yeah I'll get started right away," Dan said and hoped they had all the ingredients home as he walked into the kitchen. He was pretty sure they did though; they cooked Asian-style food almost every week after all.

Phil was a bit taken aback by Dan's sudden helpfulness. First dealing with the chairs, and now cooking. And not to mention the help he offered last night. He still hadn't gotten over that.

Phil stood up and followed Dan to the kitchen. The least he could do was help prepare the meal. Plus, that way it would be finished faster, and he was starting to become quite famished.

Dan let Phil help prepare the meal but did most of the work himself. They managed to produce a Chinese-style chicken wok in just under half an hour.

While they were eating their home-cooked meal Dan asked Phil what he wanted to do for his birthday in the morning.

"Oh right, birthday… Umm, well I hadn't planned on being around people or partying or anything. I mean, I was just going to chill out at my parents' house anyway, had I gone there, so maybe we could just take the day off and do something fun?"

"Sounds good to me," Dan answered, feeling relieved that the next day was going to be just him and Phil doing what they do best. Without thinking he added, "It's a date then!"

Phil stopped chewing his current bite of food and stared at Dan, who suddenly realized what he was saying. "Oh, I didn't.. I mean.. We-"

"Oh shut up Dan," Phil laughed, "We have a date. It's my birthday and it's a date!"

Dan didn't quite know how to respond to that, but since Phil was now beaming at him with his most adorable smile, Dan could do nothing else that smile back at him sheepishly. At last he squeeze out a short "Fine" before he looked down, his face a pinker shade than usual.

"A date.." He breathed inaudibly and smiled down at his food.


	7. Chapter 7

/I suddenly got in the mood for writing so here's a new (and long!) chapter for you! I should tell you that there's no date in this chapter so don't be disappointed. Next chapter is Phils birthday! Please review and tell me what you thought of this chapter :)/

Chapter 7

What have I done? Thought Phil. His heart was beating too fast but he tried not to let his panic show on his face or in his voice when he tried to change the subject in a relatively inconspicuous way. "I can't believe I'm already turning 26. I feel so old," He complained.

Dan looked up from his food, cheeks still a little pink, and looked Phil in the eyes. "You are not old, Phil," he said seriously. "You're in your twenties for crying out loud. No one cares if you're 22 or 27 or whatever, you are twenty-ish, period." Dan smiled encouragingly at the older boy and Phil half-smiled back. "I guess you're right. We're both in our twenties!"

"Yup, so you could say we're the same age now. Not like when we met and I was still in my teens…" Dan cringed slightly when he thought of his 18-year old self and how he had practically chased after Phil like a lost puppy.

Phil felt a little uncomfortable with the way they were touching the subject of age differences. They had never discussed it before really, probably because they were never more than just friends. Now however, when there seemed to be a _more-than-friends_ kind of tension between them it suddenly seemed more relevant.

Phil was relieved that Dan seemed to have no problem with it, though. Phil himself had never had any issues whatsoever with Dan being four years younger than him. They had always been around the same age mentally anyways. But still, he didn't want to be seen as the creepy guy with a young boyfriend. _Boyfriend? _No, he must not think like that. He must not not get his hopes up.

They finished their meal without saying much. Phil thanked Dan for getting rid of the chairs and for the cooking and while they were doing the dishes Dan asked Phil about his new video.

"So, how much are you actually revealing?" He had a hint of concern in his voice.

"Well, I decided to mention the _thing_ that happened with my friend, if that's what you meant?"

Dan avoided Phil's gaze but Phil continued. "I actually feel like I can talk about it now, finally. It's been so many years. I guess time has made it easier."

Phil's eyes brightened as he added "and having you, of course, that's helped too." Dan's heart beat an extra time at those words and his face became warm.

"You've helped me Dan, so much and you've always been there for me, ever since we first started talking on the internet. Always there when I needed to talk."

Dan felt a bit moved. He was still looking down at his dishwater-soaked hands when he answered.

"Really? I always looked at it as you being the one to save me. I guess you could say we saved each other then?"

"I guess we did," said Phil quietly and turned towards Dan. "Thank you."

Dan looked up in slight shock when he suddenly felt his friend's arms closing in around him. He hugged him back and placed his chin on Phil's shoulder.

"No, thank _you_ Phil" He said quietly.

It felt right hugging him, Dan thougt. It felt so, so right. He wondered if Phil really was serious about the date thing, or if he was just joking around. Though, by the way Phil had now moved his right hand so that it held the back of Dan's head, he would have taken a guess at the former option. He shivered slightly when Phil's long fingers moved in his hair.

Dan didn't have to ask about the date, since Phil suddenly broke the embrace, looked into Dan's dark brown eyes, and said, "are you sure you're okay with the date thing? I mean, you don't think it's weird?"

"No! I mean… Yes I'm ok with it." Dan looked down, feeling embarassed. He continued,

"I'm still getting used to the thought I guess. But it doesn't feel wrong? How- how do you feel?" Dan swallowed hard. He really hoped this was not going to be the moment where Phil started laughing at Dan for falling for what was obviously a joke. _Shit._

Phil noticed the sudden panic in Dan's eyes. He answered quickly. "How I feel?" He put his hand under Dan's chin and tilted his head up so he could look him in the eye. "I feel like it's what I want the most in the whole world for my birthday."

These words made Dan so relieved that he just sort of collapsed into Phil, leaning his forehead against his chest. "I'm glad," he mumbled into Phil's shirt. "Because I never got around buying you an actual present," he added quickly and fought back sudden need to giggle.

Phil felt Dan vibrating and grabbed his shoulders to separate them. He was not that surprised to see that Dan was clearly holding back a fit of laughter.

"Dan! You utter and complete procrastinator!"

They looked at each other's faces for a mere second before they both broke down in uncontrollable laughter. It was a laughter of relief and of pure joy. They didn't really know why they were laughing, or what about, but they couldn't stop for a long while and when they finally did they were both lying on their backs on the kitchen floor, gasping for breath.

Dan rolled over on his stomach and supported his upper body on his elbows as he looked at Phil. Phil's eyes were closed and he still had a smile on his lips. Dan felt like all the tension in the air had disappeared and he felt truly comfortable. "Hey Phil, want to watch a movie before we go to bed?" Phil opened his eyes and turned his head to meet Dan's eyes. "I'd love to."

Dan smiled and got up from the floor. He stretched out a hand down towards Phil who grabbed it and let Dan drag him up to a standing position. Their hands didn't separate as they left the kitchen and the forgotten dishes and headed towards the living room, where they spent the next two hours cuddled up in the sofa.

When the movie ended the two boys looked each other. They simultaneously realized that they now had two options. They could to either sleep in their own beds like usual, or they could spend the night together for a third time this week. Dan was the first one to say "My bed?" He tried to sound casual. Phil thought for about two seconds before he nodded in response and failed to hide the smile that came to his lips. They got up together and left the room, after turning the TV and the lights off.

Dan changed the sheets in his twin bed while Phil was in the bathroom brushing his teeth. They met in the hallway when Dan was on his way to the bathroom and Phil was headed to his room to change into his pyjamas. They exchanged a short, slightly amused, and just a tiny bit panicked look.

When Phil got into his room he went up to the wardrobe and started to dig for his Superman pyjama bottoms. By pure habit he pulled off his underwear before putting the pyjamas on. He stopped for a second and wondered if he should wear anything under, but then he shrugged and decided not to. He pulled on a t-shirt as well before he walked past his own bed, which felt strange, and headed for Dan's bedroom.

Dan was already in bed when Phil walked into the room. He lifted the covers to invite Phil to join him and Phil didn't hesitate to comply. Dan was wearing his sonic pants and a plain t-shirt. Dan had apparently decided that last night's sleeping position was one he wanted to repeat tonight. Phil smiled to himself when Dan hugged him from behind. "Is this alright?" Dan asked carefully, his breath tickling Phil's neck. Phil just nodded and tried not to shiver.

They were both tired from the long day and the warmth of their bodies under the covers made them comfortably drowsy. "Goodnight Dan," Phil whispered. Dan mumbled something incoherent in response. He was already falling asleep and Phil soon joined him.


	8. Chapter 8

/ Sorry for the extremely late update everyone. I've been really busy and I've been lacking inspiration as well. But I did it, I finished the chapter and I hope you all like it! Next chapter will be really romantic, I can promise you that much :) Oh and feel free to leave a review! /

Chapter 8

A crashing noise from the kitchen woke Phil up with a start on the morning of his 26th birthday. His eyes flew open and he sat straight up as he looked around, confused, trying to find the source of the disturbance that had woken him from his sleep and rudely interrupted a very pleasurable dream.

Phil got even more confused when he noticed that he was in the wrong bed, in the wrong bedroom. Then he suddenly remembered what had happened last night and he gave out a relieved _sigh _before sinking back onto his pillow, or Dan's pillow, rather. Then he remembered what had woken him up and looked to his side to find that Dan was gone. It must have been him making that noise then, Phil concluded and shook his head slightly at his friend's clumsiness. Why was he making a mess in the kitchen anyway? Then another fact occurred to him; it was his birthday, and Dan was probably making him breakfast. Phil smiled to himself and hugged Dan's other pillow. He was going to have to stay in bed and pretend to sleep until Dan came in and "woke" him. He closed his eyes, still smiling, and inhaled the scent of Dan from the pillow.

"Shit!" Dan had tried to catch the falling bowl but failed. It made a loud noise as it hit the floor, but didn't break. Its contents of sticky batter however, spilled out all over the floor. He was _trying _to make pancakes for Phil, but it wasn't going too well. He swore again as he reached for a kitchen towel and started to clean up the mess. He had used the only eggs they had left for this, so now he would have to make something else for Phil's breakfast. This was so him, Dan thought. Why did he have to be so damn clumsy?

When he had finished cleaning up Dan stopped and listened. He was afraid he might have woken Phil up with all the noise he was making, but thankfully he couldn't hear any sounds from the rest of the apartment so all seemed to be well. He prepared a cup of hot chocolate as quickly and quietly as he could and placed it on a tray together with a couple of biscuits. He grabbed a can of whipped cream from the fridge and sprayed some on top of the hot chocolate. That would do. The breakfast itself wasn't really the main gift anyway.

He took the tray and walked carefully across the hallway to his bedroom where he was met by a most beautiful sight. Phil was sound asleep; his arms were wrapped around Dan's pillow his legs were sprawled out over the rest of the bed. The covers had half slipped off of him. Dan walked up to the bed and set the tray down carefully on the bedside table. He sat down on the bed beside the sleeping birthday boy and expected him to wake up from the movement, but he didn't.

Dan eyed Phil's face and found that he had a tiny smile on his lips and he looked generally content. This made Dan smile; he couldn't not smile. Without thinking Dan leant down and gently placed his lips on Phil's cheek, almost touching the corner of his half-smiling mouth. Phil stirred and turned his head and his lips brushed Dan's lightly before Dan quickly pulled back. By the time Phil had opened his eyes Dan was sitting upright again.

"Happy birthday!" Exclaimed Dan cheerfully and hoped Phil wouldn't notice that he was blushing.

"You too- I mean, good morn- uh, thanks!" Phil shook his head to wake himself up and reached blindly towards the bedside table to get his glasses.

"Wait, I'll get them for you," said Dan to prevent Phil from knocking down the tray in his fumbling.

"Here you go!"

Phil put on his glasses and was glad to see Dan in full HD again. Dan smiled and gestured towards the bed-side table. "Is that hot chocolate?" Phil's face lit up when Dan nodded. "It's been ages since I had hot chocolate, oh my god, you're the best!"

Dan watched his friend grab the cup and take a large sip. Phil closed his eyes and sighed contently. When he lowered the cup from his face Dan started to laugh. He would have laughed at just seeing the ridiculously childish look on Phil's face but as if that wasn't enough he had also managed to dip his nose in the whipped cream floating in the cup.

"What?" Dan just kept laughing and pointed at Phil's face. Phil looked down on his nose and saw the small dollop of whipped cream sticking to the tip of his nose. _And Dan was laughing at him huh.._ Phil's eyes flashed with mischief as he quickly set down the cup, swiped his finger through the whipped cream and threw himself towards Dan, finger first aiming for his face.

"Eeew what are you doing?!" Dan complained loudly in a high pitched voice as Phil pushed him down onto the bed with one hand, and smeared fluffy white cream all over his face with the other. "Aah stop it, I'm not kidding!"

Phil smirked and removed his now sticky hand from Dan's cream-smeared face and placed it on his shoulder so that he was now pressing him down into the mattress with both hands. His piercing blue eyes looked down into Dan's bewildered brown ones and they just stared at each other like that for a moment.

"I hate you." Dan broke the silence and pouted.

"I hate you too." Phil replied and smiled. They sat up on the bed again and Dan helped Phil finish the biscuits before they started their usual morning routines, getting ready for a day down town.


End file.
